Page 44 of The Problem with Players

“I got accepted to a new program that will train me to go to outer space.”

“Oh my goodness!” I gasped, my hands falling to my chest. “Okay. Well. That’s a lot.”

“It’s based in Asia.”

My eyes widened. “Asia? For how long?”

“For four years, that’s before the space part, which would be three more years.”

“Four years? In Asia? We’d have to move?” I questioned, my mind spiraling. Was I imagining this all? Was this some kind of fever dream?

“Well, you see, it would just be me going.” The words leaving his mouth didn’t seem to land correctly. What did he mean, it would just be him? “Which is why I think we should put a hold on this.”

My stomach.

It dropped.

“A hold?” I breathed out. “A hold on what?”

“On this. On us. You know. Until I get my footing. Until we can see what this all becomes.”

Oh my goodness.

He was leaving me ten minutes before we said “I do.”

This dress.

It’s too tight.

I hate this fucking dress.

I stumbled backward, hitting the edge of the couch as reality settled in.

“You’re leaving me for a job?” I asked, getting flashbacks I thought I’d buried so many years ago.

“You’re leaving me for your career?” I asked Nathan, tears streaming down my face. “But…we…I…I love you. Please don’t, Nathan. Please don’t go,” I begged, rushing over to him and tugging on his T-shirt.

Just like that, I was eighteen years old again, having a man choose his career over me. Having him walk away, leaving me alone. I would’ve felt better if he’d left me for Drew. But for a job? Without warning?

I wanted to fall apart, but I couldn’t.

I couldn’t go back to that feeling from all those years before. I couldn’t be weak. I couldn’t feel.

Shut off the emotions, Avery. Stand strong.

“Okay,” I muttered, shaking my head, still in disbelief. “Then go.”

My shell hardened, but my heart?

My heart was in dismay. I wouldn’t show him that fact, though. Instead, I’d be tough. Hard exterior yet fragile inside.

“Then go?” he echoed, looking at me as if I were insensitive. “Avery, you can’t mean that.”

“I do mean that.”

He shook his head in disbelief, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I came here hoping you’d fight for us.”

“Yes, well, I’m not feeling up to the challenge,” I replied, crossing my arms.

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